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Resting

Rest is a necessary part of our well being. Often, because we think of rest as doing nothing, we either avoid it because feels like laziness or embrace it only after we have completely exhausted ourselves and can’t move.

Quite a picture, huh? Laziness or ever-ready bunny exhausted.

It is necessary to replenish our internal stores in order to maintain order in our lives. It is from our internal stores that we give out to others. Some say that it is from our extra that we give to others. More often than not it is not from our extra, but from the bit we have been trying to sustain in order to maintain what we consider balance in our lives.

I recently experienced a traumatic event that shook me to my core. In speaking with others about it they would often say, “You need to make sure that you get some rest.” I thought they were implying that this event had been energy draining. Their comments left me wondering, “What kind of rest can alleviate the pain that I feel?” Finally, my answer came. After the person said to “get some rest”, they said, “…whatever feeds and restores you do it.”

Now, honestly, I had never thought about it that way. I mean, as a child when my mom said to me, “You need to rest” it meant I needed to lay down. (Of course, she may have meant that she needed some rest from me! Lol!)

Anyway, after my last conversation I realized that I did not have to lay down, but I did need to identify which activities actually ‘fed my soul’. (I stress ‘actually’ because not identifying properly could cause you to NOT feed your own soul, but the souls of others. Just sayin’.)

It also meant that I could show a little self love and only consider myself in this matter. What a novel approach! It may have initially appeared to be easy, but it wasn’t. Why? Because what truly fed me required the selfish thoughts I had been avoiding, through debate, because in this process it was changing my priorities.

If your priorities always require that others be first, rethink your priorities. If you don’t properly put your needs first sometimes, you will be out of balance like I was prior to the event.

I eventually determined that to feed my soul and recharge these were the things I needed (this list is not exhaustive):

Solitude (for me – driving)

Creativity (taking pictures; using my hands to make something)

Color (paging through a magazine; walking through a fabric store)

Being Outside (allowing the air to touch my scalp–it’s winter time = wearing a hat)

Reading

Being with friends or family who I get a ‘charge’ from and talking (there are different types of family and friends–we’re all adults and can be honest. Right?! Lol!)

Being near water or on the beach

So, these are my rest activities and yes, I have been maximizing on all of them.

Have you defined you rest? What are some of the things you do? Share your comment in the box. I’d love to hear from you 🙂